Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Facebook and the online events company Eventbrite apparently are testing a feature that would allow users to create events and collect attendee fees, via Eventbrite, right from their Facebook pages. Eventbrite would send users a check after the event, minus a service charge.

The rapidly growing Eventbrite could be a game-changer, particularly for smaller meetings and events. The online events company doesn't charge a fee to list free events, and offers a wide range of high-octane marketing and communication tools. And, as Eventbrite co-founder and president Julia Hartz told Wired last December, their focus is very broad:

"We’re not afraid of [the larger venue market], but it’s just a slice of the pie ... There’s so much else in the pie — classes, conferences, trainings, and those smaller venues, fairs and festivals that are directly in our wheelhouse right now, and we’re also really excited about the enabling and the empowering of those who aren’t [currently] using anything [to ticket their events]. You asked about our competition — it’s actually ‘nothing,’ because it’s people who are still using Excel and e-mail, with invites and checks."

The move also would knit the San Francisco-based Eventbrite and Facebook more closely together: Eventbrite already offers attendees the ability to send messages to social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, when they register for an event.